Category Archives: Beatles

Fantastic vintage 1968 fountain pen signatures, “John Lennon,” “Paul McCartney,” and “George Harrison,” on an off-white 5.25 x 3.75 album page, and a felt tip signature, “Love, Ringo Starr,” on a second album page. Central vertical and horizontal folds and light soiling to the page with three signatures, and scattered soiling to the Ringo page, otherwise fine condition

Exceptionally desirable vintage glossy 8 x 10 Valex publicity photo featuring portraits of each individual band member, signed on the reverse in blue ballpoint by George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and twice by John Lennon; also signed again on the front by McCartney and Starr, bringing the total signature count to seven. The photo was professionally cleaned and restored to very good condition, with scattered surface marks and creases (heaviest to lower right), light soiling affecting portions of Ringo’s image and signature, and a bit of skipping to both signatures on the front. These signatures were acquired by a cocktail waitress working at the Ritz Ballroom in Rhyl, Flintshire, Wales, when the Beatles played at the venue on July 19-20, 1963. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from the daughter of the waitress, who attended the concert as well, which reads, in part: “My mother worked at the Ritz Ballroom…serving drinks from the bar. She found out the Beatles were visiting the Ritz…when she would be there…she got me in…During the interval, mum was tasked with delivering drinks to the group’s dressing room. She set off with a tray of cokes…she failed to notice a step and fell, spilling drinks all over Paul’s trousers…She said they were lovely boys and very concerned to make sure she was OK. Paul said it didn‘t matter as he had plenty of spare ‘keks.’ She…mentioned that she had a 12 yr old daughter out front. Upon hearing this, and to cheer her up, they dug out a promotional photo to sign.” Accompanied by two letters of authenticity from noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo. A bold set of signatures with a wonderful story which exemplifies the band’s charming personalities and accessibility. Pre-certified Roger Epperson/REAL.

Incredibly desirable 1963 UK fourth pressing of their Please Please Me album signed and inscribed on the back cover in blue ballpoint, “To Steve, all the best and a Happy Birthday from the Beatles, George Harrison,” “John Lennon xx,” “Ringo Starr,” and “Paul McCartney.” In very good condition, with scattered light toning, soiling, and dampstaining to back cover, creasing to edges, and some light rippling, creasing, and edge wear to front cover. The record is included.

Signatures were obtained backstage at the Granada Cinema in London on June 1, 1963. Accompanied by a 2014 letter of provenance from the original recipient, which reads, in part: “I was given a signed copy of the Please Please Me album as a birthday present. My brother, Clive, met the Beatles on the Roy Oribison-Gerry and the Pacemakers tour of May 1963. When I asked my brother recently for his memories of his meeting with the Beatles he recalled the following: ‘I saw the Beatles at the Granada Tooting on the 1st June 1963…George and Paul were very chatty and George complained that he had ‘an orrible headache after that’…John and Ringo didn’t say much, just signed the album, which JL threw on the floor.’ George Harrison wrote the dedication…and all four signed their names. The album has been in my possession since 1963.” This particular day was an incredibly busy one for the band: besides two shows at the Granada that day, they also spent eight hours at the BBC Paris Studio in London, filming two episodes of Pop Goes the Beatles. Also on this day, their debut album, Please Please Me, secured its fourth straight week at the top of the British charts. Pre-certified Roger Epperson/REAL and RR Auction COA.

Uncommon large format March 1963 issue UK Parlophone Records promotional card, 7.25 x 5, featuring an Angus McBean portrait of the band on the front, signed and inscribed in black ballpoint to their friend Chris Huston, “To Chris, me ould mate, keep going, John Lennon,” “To Chris, all the very best, Paul McCartney,” “To Chris, best wishes from George Harrison,” and “To Chris, Best wishes, Ringo Starr.” Scattered bends and creases (primarily to edges), otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Beatles expert Perry Cox, as well as a letter of provenance from Chris Huston.

Huston was a fellow Liverpudlian guitarist in one of the leading local Merseybeat bands, The Undertakers, who played many shows with the Beatles. He was a friend of the group, and actually installed the Bigsby on John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar that he played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Shortly after the Beatles’ new promo card came out Lennon showed it to Huston, who asked them to sign it—thus the warm inscriptions to a friend. In his letter of provenance, Huston describes this as coming from a scrapbook that he kept of autographed photos of the musicians he met while touring, such as Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Tony Sheridan, and Bill Haley. Excellent provenance and association to the early British Merseybeat music scene—a simply superb, fully signed example of the rarer large format Parlophone card. Pre-certified Roger Epperson/REAL and RR Auction COA.

Fantastic and extremely rare unlaminated front cover to the band’s A Hard Day’s Night album presented to a stewardess on The Beatles’ flight from London to Liverpool on July 10, 1964, signed in black ballpoint, “John Lennon,” “George Harrison,” “Paul McCartney,” and “Ringo Starr,” with each band member signing on the line of his image. Scattered edge and corner creases, otherwise fine condition.

Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo, which reads, in part: “This flat…was actually a factory pressed cardboard printed front cover of the ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ LP, before being fully constructed into an LP cover (after which a thick, heavy laminate was applied to the front cover). All four have autographed the item beautifully in black ballpoint pen…The fact that it had not yet had the heavy laminate applied in the LP construction process allowed for signing, thus making it an extremely rare front signed Beatles album cover. This item is similar in every way to others which have surfaced which were signed on July 10, 1964, for stewardesses who worked for British Eagle Airlines who were working on the Beatles’ flight from London to their hometown of Liverpool to attend the Northern Premiere of their first feature film…The Beatles gifted the stewardesses working the round trip same day flight with a signed album flat as a ‘thank you’ for the good service they provided on that day…One of the photos taken on that day depicts some of the stewardesses holding other album flats, while Paul McCartney is getting ready to board the plane.” Also included are five second-generation photos from July 10, 1964, including the photo mentioned in Caiazzo’s letter.

On this date, the band traveled to Liverpool for an appearance at the Odeon Cinema for the premier of their first full-length film. The afternoon before the premier, the Beatles’s went to a civic reception held in their honor at the Liverpool Town Hall, attended by several dignitaries including the lord and lady mayor. Over 200,000 people packed Speke airport and the motorcade route to the theater, an outpouring so overwhelming, it has been said that the group valued this reception more than any other in their career. It was also on this date that the album’s soundtrack was released, skyrocketing to number one on the charts. Only a very, very limited number of these covers were signed by the band on the flight, most likely less than five, elevating this cover to the highest level of Fab Four signed memorabilia.

Fabulous program from The Beatles’ Second Christmas Show, presented at the Hammersmith Odeon from December 24, 1964, to January 16, 1965, 8.25 x 10.75, featuring printed images by John Lennon from the Christmas edition of In His Own Write. Signed in blue ballpoint on the second and third pages next to their images by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. In fine condition, with a light central vertical bend and only slight handling wear. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo, in part: “These signatures date precisely from the period of their engagement at the Odeon Cinema, and in fact the program was signed in January of 1965 for the show’s producer at the venue, Peter Yolland. This is a stellar example of this scarce signed Beatles concert program.” Among the acts to share the stage for the twice-nightly shows were the Jeff Beck edition of The Yardbirds, Freddie & The Dreamers, Elkie Brooks, and the seemingly ever-present Sounds Incorporated. The show ran for 20 nights with only two days off, and would be be the last series of Christmas shows as the group then shifted their focus towards the studio. Pre-certified Roger Epperson/REAL and RR Auction COA.

(United Artists/King Features, 1968) Original production cel featuring Paul, George, Ringo, and John from Yellow Submarine. The cel is placed on a laser copy background. All four images of the band walking towards a rainbow measure approximately 1.25 x 3.75, with overall dimensions of 17 x 13. In fine condition. Cels from the film featuring all four Beatles are quite uncommon and desirable, as they are not often seen on screen together.